Broadband

Metro network transport platforms must be compact, scalable, and agile to conquer the specific challenges of this key portion of the transport network. Growing and shifting traffic in the metro has triggered these challenges.

Today’s cloud-optimized metro network transport platforms “must” be:

Compact – with optimal power and performance in a form factor that meets metro operational cost targets

Scalable – to have the capacity you need when you need it to aggregate and transport multiple, high-performance services

Agile and intelligent – to dynamically reconfigure network resources to get services to your customers faster

Rural communities and small cities need fast broadband access to prosper in an increasingly globalized and connected world. Municipal governments recognize the socioeconomic benefits that ultra-broadband connections can bring. Many also understand the technical and financial challenges involved in bringing these connections to small communities. Still, most municipalities lack a clear strategy and implementation path for realizing their ultra-broadband vision.

Cities like Opelika, Alabama and Chattanooga, Tennessee have proven that the transformative benefits of ultra-broadband are within reach for smaller population centers. Both cities have successfully deployed fiber networks that deliver gigabit speeds and services to homes and businesses. Their citizens now enjoy ultra-broadband experiences that had previously been unknown outside the world’s elite cities.

So how can your small city or rural community emulate the success of Opelika and Chattanooga? There’s no universal ultra-broadband deployment strategy. But there are fundamental steps you can follow to build a fast network that lets your citizens and businesses thrive.

A Wi-Fi first strategy can help multi-system operators (MSOs) remain competitive in the evolving marketplace. Wi-Fi enabled devices default to using the cable operator’s Wi-Fi network for voice, and cellular equipped devices can switch to cellular when out of Wi-Fi range.

Although nuances in the business drivers for adopting such a strategy vary by region globally, this model turns the traditional cellular voice paradigm on its head.

Just like other communications or media industries, MSOs face a dynamic and extremely competitive market. As a result, in EMEA, they have evolved their end-user offerings to embrace market-leading fixed high speed internet access, Wi-Fi connectivity, and bundled mobile cellular services using mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) partnerships.

As the pace of change continues to accelerate, subscribers have made a widespread move to Wi-Fi enabled smartphones and tablets. A European commission study stated that 71% of all EU wireless data traffic in 2012 was delivered to smartphones and tablets using Wi-Fi. This is expected to rise to 78% by 2016.

European MSOs have already invested in Wi-Fi and offer data connectivity services in and out of the home. This not only is a customer retention strategy, but also lets MSOs build out further value added services (VAS) and can reduce data costs of their MVNO agreements. So if we now contemplate the delivery of voice to these Wi-Fi enabled devices, how do we get started?

Increased number of security threats, demand for greater efficiency, and requirement for cross-agency coordination all point to the need to modernize public safety communications networks toward IP and broadband. And, backhauling is at the forefront of this evolution.

The rationale for the evolution of public safety backhaul networks is twofold:

In the short-term, existing voice-centric PMR/LMR networks need upgrading to support more data-centric applications.

But they also need to get ready for upcoming deployment of wireless broadband 4G/LTE systems complementing existing narrowband PMR/LMR systems.

By deploying a converged MPLS-based backhaul network now, public safety organizations can address current and future requirements for public safety IP communications while controlling costs. And when properly designed, mission-critical public safety transport networks also feature more efficient and more resilient support of legacy TDM-based applications.

IP/optical integration typically results in cost savings, but maintaining service availability is also essential when measuring total return on investment (ROI). An analysis of 3 modes of operation found multi-layer protection and restoration to be the most cost efficient while meeting availability requirements.

Public safety professionals require the highest level of reliable, multimedia mobile communications to enhance their operational effectiveness. And while standard based long term evolution (LTE) provides the most cost-effective and secure way to support these broadband communications, transitioning to this new technology will demand a complex technical, operational, and business evolution for the public safety community.

Why LTE – and why now?

Public safety communications are at a turning point. The most urgent events – planned and unplanned – require more than mission-critical voice to improve first responders’ efficiency. Real-time imagery, video, geo-localization, and high-speed access to private cloud-based information and applications are becoming essential to fulfill first responders’ missions.

Existing private mobile radio (PMR) systems have limited capabilities to deliver this, because they were designed to primarily support narrowband mission-critical voice.

For LTE, it’s a different story. LTE can complement existing PMR networks to dramatically enhance operational effectiveness and coordination within a secure infrastructure shared by cooperating agencies.

This article provides guidance on network architecture choices for operators considering introducing the time-shifted TV services provided by cloud digital video recording (DVR) solutions. Time-shifted TV services include catch up, restart, pause live TV, and personal recordings. The same guidance applies to those wanting to deliver subscription-based VoD services—either their own or those of partners[1].

Forward thinking providers are already concerned that the coming wave of unicast traffic generated by popular on-demand video services will affect the delivery network from end to end. Clarifying the potential impact of these services on the network is vital as the ramifications could be significant.

This article discusses the progress in the development and operational management of the vEPC to support the LTE consumer network. It answers the question: Is the vEPC commercially viable in large-scale, LTE network deployments? At Mobile World Congress 2015, Alcatel-Lucent will show a live demonstration of vEPC dynamic scaling together with simplified NFV management and orchestration.

Over the past several years, I’ve met with many mobile network operators (MNOs) and discussed their plans for virtualizing the evolved packet core (EPC). It’s clear from the more recent conversations that MNOs are now convinced that the vEPC is both financially and technically viable for their networks. But is the vEPC ready for the MNO’s LTE consumer network? In this article, I’ll discuss why I now think that’s possible.

The growing importance and usage of Wi-Fi™ is spurring rapid development in voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) to complement robust VoLTE services. Mobile device manufacturers are taking advantage of Wi-Fi to solidify their relationship with consumers and enterprises, so mobile network operators (MNOs) need to act quickly to secure a share in the hot Wi-Fi market. By developing a strategy that encompasses Wi-Fi, MNOs can leverage their most important asset - their LTE network - to deliver a seamless experience for subscribers while leveraging their virtualized IMS investment to create new revenue opportunities for themselves.

In doing preparations for what many have called “the circus” aka the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC)—which is arguably now the most important industry trade event as the world goes mobile and which takes place in Barcelona March 2-5—the excitement is already palpable. From all of the new cool devices of all shapes and sizes to interesting advances on things like antenna technology, Network Functions Virtualization, carrier aggregation, etc., the eye candy alone is almost overwhelming in terms of imagining the possibilities. However, MWC always is tantalizing because not only does it answer what we will see in terms of capabilities in the near-term, but also because of the questions it raises about the longer term.

In this regard I was struck by a recent blog by Michael Peeters, CTO, Alcatel-Lucent Wireless, entitled I think appropriately, The Circus is in Town. Peeters’ main point is summed up nicely where he says in characterizing his view on what’s the next big thing that will be the buzz of the show that, “...one thing is certain: its story will be about removing place and time constraints we took for granted.”